Worcestershire Rapids Vitality T20 Blast at New Road Match Tie No 1

OUTLAWS CHOKED WITH A TIE

Power hitting by Clarke and Hales wasted

Notts badly threw away their opening game at Worcester this evening, managing to tie a game they were completely dominating. A poor shot from Moores and the run outs of Samit Patel (ambling a two) and Luke Fletcher proved critical. On a very slow pitch Notts managed to score 76 in the power play as Alex Hales (31) and man of the match Joe Clarke (45) gorged themselves as the Worcester seamers bowled poorly. However Notts completely lost their way as Worcester took the pace off the ball, scoring just 52 off the last 10 overs. The coolness of Dan Christian was sadly missed, as panic reigned and an unbalanced line up was shown up. Luke Fletcher who cannot buy a run in 2021 came in at number eight. Worcester kept their cool at the end with keen fielding, but Trego who hit 38-ball 35, was handicapped at having to run with less than agile batsmen and Notts paid the price.

Outlaws Debutant

Notts won the toss and inserted Worcester in front of sparse crowd of around 750 which was limited to Worcester members only.Notts included leg spinner Calvin Harrison in the Eleven, the Durban born 23 year old made two appearances for Hampshire in last season’s Blast. He made a pleasing debut but having scored a 100 for Oxford UCCE in March against Notts, why wasn't he given a bat? There was no place in the team for Ball, Budinger and James.

Fletcher (New Road End) conceded four off the opening over. Wessels cut Patel for four, seven off the over. D'Oliveira (5) was stumped off a wide bowled by Carter, 12 for one. Moeen (6) lofted Carter for 4 but then was bowled the left hander leg stump, 18 for 2 after 3 overs. Wessels straight drove Paterson for 4 and then hit the South African to the mid wicket ropes. Mullaney at mid off ran out Wessels (14) who tried to run a risky single, 26 for three after 4 overs.Carter went for seven off the fifth over. Patel bowled the last over of the power play with Worcester standing at 38 for 3.

Harrison conceded six off his opening over. Libby was dropped on 12 by bowler Mullaney low to his right hand side, seven off the over. Harrison went for six in over number 9. Ben Cox (14) was caught and bowled by Mullaney moving to his right,63 for four after 10 overs.

Mullaney under-utilising his slow bowling options?

Harrison (3 0 16 0) conceded four off the 11th over. Libby got a four off Mullaney through third man as Fletcher dived over the ball, ten off the over. Carter (30 22 2) was hit for a leg side boundary by Libby, 85 for 4 off 13 overs.Patel (3 0 15 0) conceded seven off his third over. Fletcher bowled three separate wides as the 15th over went for 11. Whiteley hit Mullaney (4 0 34 1)for six over backward square leg, 111 for 4 off 16 overs. Whiteley survived a run out chance as the bowler Paterson missed the stumps in his follow through, two runs off the bat and a leg bye off the 17th over. Whiteley drove Fletcher for a straight boundary, 122 for 4 off 18 overs. Whiteley hit Paterson for a leg side six. Libby got to his 50 off 42 balls with a lofted four off Paterson (3 0 25 0). Whiteley hit Fletcher to the fine leg ropes but the left hander fell next ball caught at deep point by Paterson, 141 for 5.Whiteley scored 42 off 35 balls (2x4,2x6). Barnard smashed his first ball over the mid wicket ropes for six and switched a four behind the wicket. Barnard was caught on the fine leg ropes by Carter as Worcester closed on 152 for six off 20 overs. Fletcher 4 0 36 2. Libby 52 not out off 49 balls (3x4) had batted sensibly on the docile pitch and his innings was to lead to Worcester gaining an unexpected point. Worcester though had scored 89 off their last overs, 37 more than Notts later achieved as Mullaney underused his spinners.

If Carling did Powerplay batting...

Moeen Ali bowled the first over from the Diglis End and conceded only three. Dwarshuis was hit for a four by Clarke through the covers and then Clarke hit him for a six over long off. Hales top edged a pull shot to the boundary ropes,15 off the Aussies first over. A short ball by Tongue was pulled for six over mid wicket by Clarke. A cheeky six followed over fine leg as Clarke hit his third maximum. Hales then hit Tongue for a straight six and the mid wicket ropes, 25 off the over including two leg byes. Morris went for five off the fourth over. The 50 partnership came up in 25 balls and next ball Clarke chipped a four through long off, Dwarshuis the bowler. He was then hit for six over mid wicket by Hales, 15 off the over. Morris was hit for a straight six by Clarke. Hales sheer brute strength came to the fore once more as he hit Morris for a huge mid wicket six. Hales fell to the last ball of the power play caught at long on by Moeen Ali on the run. Hales 31 off 18 balls (2x4, 3x6), 76 for one.

It all goes downhill from here

Clarke (45 off 21 balls -2x4, 4x6) holed out to Sodhi, caught at long on by Dwarshuis, 81 for two. Duckett (6) fell leg before to a ball from Moeen that turned, 85 for three off 8 overs. Moores pulled a short ball from Sodhi over mid wicket. With sensible batting all that was required, the reckless Moores (12) was well caught at deep mid wicket by Ross Whiteley diving forward off Moeen, 100 for 4 off 12 overs. Four came off the next over bowled by Sodhi. Moeen bowled out with (4 0 15 2), Notts 107 for four off 12 overs. Trego found the backward point ropes off Sodhi (4 0 27 1). D'Oliveira went for the two singles in the 14th over. Trego hit a four through backward square leg off Barnard, nine off the over. Patel ambling was run out going for two off d'Oliveira as Morris threw from extra cover, 128 for five. Notts stood at 132 for five off 16 overs. Trego pulled Dwarshuis (3 0 38 0) for four, eight off the over. Only 13 needed off three overs but with a worryingly long tail to come. Tongue conceded three off the 18th over. Mullaney playing the ball far too early chipped the ball into the covers where Tongue took a diving catch, Morris (3 0 23 2) the bowler,147 for six. Notts needed just five off the last over bowled by Tongue (3 0 290). Trego got a single, Fletcher ran a bye to the keeper off the second ball. Next ball, Trego went for a single but Fletcher was run out following a kick on to the stumps from Tongue. Next ball was a dot ball to Carter who tried to hit the ball to leg but missed. Carter then ran a single. then a single. Two needed off the last ball but Trego (35 off 38 balls – 3x4) hit the ball to Barnard at mid wicket but was run out by a country mile going out for two.Notts 152 for eight. Match tied. Worcestershire had lost all their previous six T20 games against Notts at New Road. In addition there has been two no results.Like the Edgbaston semi final in 2019, Notts had completely lost their way against The Rapids. Both teams, as one would expect looked rusty, having spent nine weeks playing proper cricket. MAG

Comment

Notts need to get more balance to their line up, and obtain more agility in the field.Lyndon James, Evison and Liam Paterson-White, three good all-rounders should come into consideration. The tail in this game was too long. No need to panic, I would expect the Notts batting line up to click at Trent Bridge as the surface should be more conducive to high run scoring in June and July compared to the wickets we saw last September. Where Notts might struggle is away from home on large outfields where younger sides could outfield us. But you should never back against experience. Key question how much will Christian and Imad be missed? MAG

SPANNER IN THE WORKS

14 man squad:

Sol Budinger

Alex Hales

Joe Clarke

Ben Duckett

Steven Mullaney

Samit Patel

Peter Trego

Lyndon James

Tom Moores

Calvin Harrison

Matt Carter

Luke Fletcher

Dane Paterson

Jake Ball

The match starts at 5.30 and is being played behind Sky's paywall.

Moeen Ali will lead the Rapids for the first time since Finals Day 2019, evoking memories of the Outlaws' greatest self inflicted balls up in the semi-finals that day.

 

08/06/21

A major hammer blow was dealt to Notts Outlaws when their captain Dan Christian, at 38, was called-up to represent Australia in their West Indies Tour.

DC jets off immediately and will miss the entirety of the group stages of the Blast. The Outlaws' captain role now passes to Steven Mullaney.

A heavy defeat dealt by Derbyshire to the Second XI, gave no confidence as to T20 form of either Jake Ball or Dane Paterson today.

07/06/21

With a smattering of Second XI T20 matches leading up to the launch of the Blast 2021 on Wednesday, it appears that Notts Outlaws first XI is settled and if one position was still vacant, the latest "audition" to fill it, a 5 run win against Young Foxes had mixed success.

Budinger again made a high-powered fifty at the top of the order. Evison had a positive all round game as did LPW, who played the Matt Carter role. James didn't stand-out in the win whereas Jake Ball (captain) appeared to set up a close (unnecessary) finish and only just escaped with the narrow win, bowling himself at the death.

Significantly, recent "Second XI" players that didn't play included: Hales, Trego, Patel, Carter, Chappell and Christian.

It might be the case that Jake isn't quite ready yet but another game today at Worksop against Derbyshire might provide more clues. Yesterday, a near full strength Falcons easily swept aside a strong (but far from full strength) Vikings at Derby.